Report on the OVC breakfast meeting on right to property ... - Kelin

<strong>Report</strong> Of The Consultative Breakfast Meeting
On The
Protection Of Orphaned & Vulnerable Children’s Rights
To Family Property/Procedures On Administration Of
Estates And Of Acquistion Of Registration Of Birth &
Identification Documents
Held in Nairobi, Kenya on 18th June 2010
Prepared for Action Aid International Kenya
Submitted by Kenya Legal & Ethical Issues Network on HIV & AIDS
Kindaruma Road, off Ngong Road
P.O Box 112-00202 Nairobi
TEL: 254 20 3861390; 254 020 2515790
FAX: 254 20 3861390
EMAIL: info@kelinkenya.org

<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
Contents
ABBREVIATIONS 4
1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5
2.0 SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP SESSIONS 13
2.1 SESSION I: EXPERIENCES IN THE COMMUNITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.2 SESSION II: KNOWING GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.3 SESSION III: PLENARY DISCUSSIONS ON WAY FORWARD.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 15
4.0 NEXT STEPS 17
METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
APPENDIX I: TIMETABLE 19
APPENDIX II: LIST OF PARTICIPANTS 20
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
ABBREVIATIONS
A.G . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Attorney General
AAK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Action Aid International Kenya
AIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
CLAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Children’s Legal Action Network
CRADLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Children’s Foundation
HIV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Human Immuno-deficiency Virus
KELIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kenya Ethical Legal Issues Network on HIV and AIDS
KNCHR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kenya National Commission on Human Rights
NGO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Non-governmental Organisation
OVC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Orphans and Vulnerable Children
PMTCT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission
TSC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Teachers Service Commission
UNAIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . United Nations Joint Programme on HIV
WOFAK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya
Breakfast Meeting on the Protection of Ovc’s Rights to Family Property, Procedures on
Administration of Estates and of Acquistion of Registration of Birth & Identification
Documents Held In Nairobi, Kenya on 18th June, 2010
CONVENORS OF THE
MEETING
KELIN; ACTIONAID and WOFAK
COUNTRY/SITE OF MEETING
Sarova Panafric Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya.
PURPOSE OF THE MEETING
Breakfast Meeting on the Protection of Ovc’s Rights to Family
Property, Procedures on Administration of Estates and of Acquistion
of Registration of Birth & Identification Documents Held In Nairobi,
Kenya on 18th June, 2010
DATE OF MEETING 18 TH JUNE 2010
TOTAL NUMBER OF
MALE FEMALE TOTAL
PARTICIPANTS
13 34 47
IV

Allan Achesa Maleche, Programmes Coordinator of KELIN, introduces
Ms. Valarie Kihima to Mrs Catherine Muyeka Mumma, board member of
KELIN and Senior Programmes Advisor.
1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
The Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV& AIDS (KELIN) is one of the few organisations in Kenya
and East Africa working on legal and human rights issues in relation to health and HIV. KELIN’s goal is to
undertake advocacy and provide leadership in ensuring an enhanced rights based approach in health and HIV
strategies and programmes.
Action Aid International Kenya (AAK) is a branch of Action Aid International, which is an anti-poverty agency
working in over 40 countries taking sides with the poor people to end poverty and injustice together.
Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya is a non-governmental organisation, established to provide quality health care,
support and empowerment to women and children infected and affected, to enable them live positively with HIV.
KELIN entered into an agreement with AAIK to conduct a half day consultative breakfast meeting on the rights
of OVC’s to family property, knowing government policies and procedures on administration of estates and of
acquisition of registration of birth & identification documents. The breakfast meeting was held as a follow up to
the previous National Advocacy Workshop on Children and HIV in Kenya held on the 30th of November to 1st
December 2009 at Sarova Panafric hotel Nairobi.
The overall objective of the consultative breakfast meeting was to narrow in on property and identification rights
of OVC’s by bringing together various OVC’s, care givers, the relevant government officials, non-governmental
organisations involved with PLWHAs, and even donor institutions for an all round, all inclusive discussion on how
to enhance the realisation of the rights of OVC’s with regard to inheritance of family property, administration of
estates and of acquisition of registration of birth & identification documents.
Session 1 officially commenced at 0745hrs with introductory remarks from the Programme co-ordinator of
KELIN, Mr. Allan Maleche. Mr. Maleche gave a brief overview of the meeting and reminded participants that
this meeting was a follow up to last year’s meeting held on world AIDS day where discussions were held with all
stakeholders on issues affecting OVC. He recounted the particular issues of concern that came out of that meeting
as including;
• Orphans accessing property from the public trustee
• Orphans obtaining birth certificates and
• Orphans obtaining National Identification cards.
He stated that as a result of these concerns it was agreed as the way forward that the relevant government authorities would be
invited to brainstorm on how to best solve these problems. As such, Mr. Maleche outlined the three (3) main objectives of this
breakfast meeting being;
• To hear from care givers on their 1 st hand experiences in relation to the afore-listed problems.
• To hear from duty bearers on government on the relevant policies and procedures.
• To come up with the way forward/recommendations on how to solve these problems.
Mr. Maleche then requested participants to briefly introduce themselves after which he invited Ms. Ruth Laibon Masha
to chair session I presentations. Ms. Masha emphasised the objective of this session as put by Mr. Maleche after which she
invited Ms. Catherine Mumma of KELIN to make her presentation on the “General overview of the issues affecting
orphans and vulnerable children in the context of HIV.
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
The objective of Ms. Mumma’s presentation was to give
a quick overview of the socio-legal situation obtaining
amongst care givers and the challenges facing them
in so far as access to property, registration of births
and identification cards are concerned. Ms Mumma’s
presentation highlighted the following key issues;
• We tend to concentrate more on PMTCT and
social protection and as a result several other
equally important issues affecting OVC’s are left
unaddressed.
• AIDS is more than a health issue and there are so
many negative socio-economic problems which a
growing number of OVC’s experience.
Mrs Mumma gives her introdcutory remarks
• Currently, there are more 2 million AIDs orphans and more than 1 million of them live with HIV in sub-Saharan
Africa. As a result, child headed households are a common occurrence and children are no longer children because of
HIV.
• Care givers equally face a myriad of challenges.
• So many homes are a sham and have become businesses where civil servants collude with care-givers to co-own homes
for purposes of obtaining donor funds,
• There is a lot of difficulty in accessing birth registration and identification documents for the child.
Ms. Masha then invited personal testimonies from care-givers and a select group of OVC’s to share their practical
experiences. A total of 5 personal testimonies were heard from Josephine Mbula Oyuga- Grandmother carer, Martin
Muchene- beneficiary of Nyumbani children’s home and Valerie Kihima-an orphan and Student at Catholic University of
Eastern Africa. A 10min video containing personal testimonies was also played to the audience the personal testimonies and
videos mainly touched on the following;
• The economic challenges facing OVCs in Kenya
• The difficulties in obtaining registration and Identification
documents for OVCs
• Violation of property rights of OVCs and
• Challenges facing OVCs during inheritance of family
property
Ms. Masha then invited Sr. Mary Owens, the administrator
and executive director of children of God Relief Institution
(“Nyumbani children’s Home”). Sr. Owens made presentations on
“The Struggle for Birth Certificates” and “an outreach to the
two ‘left behind generations’ of the HIV pandemic: orphans
and grandparents”. This presentation mainly gave a practical
Sr Mary Owens of Nyumbani Childrens Home makes her presentation.
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
experience of Nyumbani’s struggles to obtain birth certificates. The following issues were apparent in Sr. Owen’s presentation:
• Several children pass on without ever having their births recognised and neither do they receive death certificates for
them.
• Even where there are chances of registration and considering that these children are orphans, the following
documentation was still required in order to register the children;
- Death certificates of the parents
- Birth Certificates of the parents
- National Identify Cards for parents
- Birth Notification of the child
- Police Abstract
• The children are looked down upon, discriminated and stigmatized for being HIV positive.
• Charitable Children’s Homes still have difficulty satisfying guidelines requiring them to obtain Committal documents
from the court, Letter from the Children’s Department and a letter from the institution where the child is staying in
order to process registration and identification documents for children under their care.
• Policies and laws need to be changed or amended to accommodate the special circumstances of OVCs.
• Currently, Nyumbani is faced with getting birth certificates for 663 children in Nyumbani Village as well as the 12 for
Nyumbani Home children.
• There are still a lot of difficulties when it comes to inheritance of property by OVCs of property and therefore there is
need for advocacy.
• A clear user-friendly legal process needs to be put in place and more public awareness of the rights of these children to
their property inheritance needs to be created so that the community can also provide custodianship and help prevent
‘land grabbing’
Sr. Owens ended her presentation at 0937hrs
Ms. Masha then invited Lilian Njeru of CRADLE: To make her presentation on “Experiences On Working With OVC”.
Lilian’s presntation was more on the legal perspectives of the experiences. Her presentation highlighted the following
important issues;
• The procedure to be followed when a person dies
depends on whether a person died testate or intestate.
• The public trustee comes in when a person dies
intestate and no one comes forth to apply for letters of
administration or where no executor is appointed
• There are certain gaps in the law that are unfavorable
to OVCs for example in cases of intestacy Section
32 of the Act excludes agricultural land and livestock
from its realm and this provides fertile ground for
discriminatory practices as it places the excluded
Ms. Melba Katisvo and Ms. Veronica Omunga of Kelin listen keenly to Sr
Owens’ speech.
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
property in the ambit of customary law which is more often than not repugnant to justice and morality.
• The CRADLE’s interaction with orphans reveals that the relatives of the deceased always move with supersonic speed to
divide the properties amongst themselves and the penalties are lenient.
• The law always presumes that the surviving spouse will take care of the best interest of the child. The experience of The
CRADLE has been that many parents take care of their own interests. There are also instances where fathers disinherit
the children.
• The procedure for obtaining a grant of representation is long, complicated and tedious.
• It is recommended that awareness is created especially of the office of the public trustee,
• Amend section 32 of the Succession Act
• Have proper rules and regulations on administration of children property and
• Guardians should also provide for indemnity to cushion children against embezzlement.
Lilian’s presentation ended at 0946hrs.
Ms. Masha then invited Hellen Jasiang’a, the field co-ordinator of WOFAK Kayole, to make her presentation on “challenges
of OVC in acquisition of legal documents.” Hellen’s presentation briefly highlighted the challenges OVC’s are facing in
obtaining birth certificates and I.D. cards from the experience of WOFAK. The following issues were highlighted in Hellen’s
presentation;
• WOFAK mainly counsels and gives emotional support to orphans, gives medical care through community clinics and
pharmacy, and also refer some children to the “lea toto” programme in Kariobangi South
• The key challenges that WOFAK faces in obtaining legal documentations for children under their care include lack
of information on parents’ background e.g. Home area, place of employment e.t.c., no records are kept by the parent/
guardians of their children, lack of resources to process the documents, and the process itself is cumbersome.
Hellen’s presentation ended at 1000hrs
Ms Ruth Masha of Action Aid International Kenya then made the final presentation of the session on “the link between
human rights violations and HIV- the context of OVC”- Ms. Masha’s presentation summarized the following important
issues.
• Estimated number of orphans and vulnerable
children increased from 1.8 million in 2004 to 2.4
million in 2006, 48% of these linked to HIV and
AIDS.
• 7 of 10 young people in Suba District in Nyanza
Province know children whose parents have died
from AIDS and 4 out 10 young people in Suba
reported to have been sexually abused
• As a result of dis-inheritance, OVCs have to
undergo all manner of suffering due to financial/
Ms Ruth Masha of Action Aid International Kenya makes her presentation.
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
economic problems.
• Ms. Masha summarized the Common difficulties faced by orphans as Property dis-inheritance, hidden costs of free
primary education, lack of food, separation of siblings, sexual abuse and low transition rate to secondary level even when
they perform well at the primary level examinations.
Ms Masha’s presentation also gave a pictorial perspective of the living conditions of OVC’s which were deplorable. Ms.Masha’s
presentation ended at 1016hrs
In session II duty bearers i.e. the relevant government departments were invited to share on the government procedures
relating to registration of births, acquisition of identification documents and access to property by OVC. The objectives of
these were two fold i.e. to ascertain as much as possible whether the procedures are friendly to children and to come up with
ideas on what can be done to improve the currently obtaining position. Ms. Anne Gathumbi was the chair of this session and
at 1020hrs, she invited Ms Jane Kariuki of the Ministry of state for immigration and registration of persons- department of
civil registration who took participants through her presentation on the “structures and procedures relating to registration
of birth for acquisition of identification documents for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC)”
Ms. Kariuki’s presentation mainly summarized the legal procedures involved in obtaining legal documentation. In summary,
her presentation highlighted the following;
• Births occurring in hospitals are notified there
and parents issued with acknowledgement of
Birth Notification for parents (ABN).
• Where a child is born out of the hospital (at
home) the parent notifies the Birth to the
registration agent in their area – (Assistant Chief
in a Sub location) and is issued with ABN.
• More often than not, When a child is found
abandoned the aspect of registration is skipped
even where the child is placed with institutions
and this becomes a challenge area later in life in
acquiring documents.
Ms Anne Gathumbi of Osiea chairs a session during the breakfast meeting.
• Late birth registration is registration of a birth which was not registered within six (6) months of occurrence. The
Registrar of births may register a late birth after the following supporting documents are attached to the application
forms: Notification of birth, Hospital Certificate/Clinic card, Doctors Certificate, Midwife’s certificate, Baptismal
Certificate, School Leaving Certificate among others.
• Where the child involved is an OVC, additional documents are required. These include committal documents from a
court indicating that the custody of the child has been duly granted. A letter from the Children’s Department indicating
that the child in question is indeed abandoned, if housed by an institution, a letter providing the child’s history
including the date of birth according to an age assessment test, a police letter where available and a fee of Kshs 150/=.
• Some of these procedures were more theoretical than practical hence the numerous problems facing persons seeking
legal documentation.
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
• In a bid to streamline and fast track these procedures the registry has come-up with new guidelines that basically do
away with most requirements for late birth registrations especially for OVC’s.
Ms. Kariuki’s presentation ended at 1053hrs
The chair then invited Hon. Millie Odhiambo, Nominated MP and chairperson of the Kenya ParliamentaryCaucus
onCchildren, to share her experiences, with the challenge to push for the recommendations coming out of the meeting
to be passed into law. Hon. Millie Odhiambo made
the following key recommendations:
• In as much as advocacy was important, there was
need to undertake the same in a simplified and easy
to understand and implement in a manner to avoid
bureaucracies.
• Come up with smaller representative groups that
ensure that recommendations coming out of a
forum such as this one are action-oriented and/or
practical because we are dealing with real people
who need real/practical solutions to problems.
Hon. Millie Odhiambo delivers her speech during the breakfast meeting .
• Although the cash transfer programme was off to a good start, there’s still need to expand the programme in order to
reach the growing number of OVC’s.
• She was in the process of moving the counter-trafficking bill in parliament to tackle the rising number of illegal
adoptions, child trafficking and abuse especially for OVC’s.
• She undertook to ask a questions relating to the right of OVCs in obtaining registration documents during the
parliamentary sessions.
Hon. Odhiambo’s presentation ended at 1115hrs.
Ms. Anne Gathumbi then invited Ms. Mary Njuya, the Hon. the A.G’s representative, to make her keynote
address on behalf of the Hon. the A.G. Ms. Njuya is the Senior Deputy Public Trustee and the head of state law
office Aids Control Unit. She also works in the Administrator general’s department. She proceeded to read out the
Hon. Attorney Generals keynote address.
In the Hon. the A.G’s address, the following key issues were noted;
• The right to nationality and identity is one of the basic rights without which many other rights cannot be enjoyed.
• The question of protection of children’s rights particularly that of orphans to own and access their family property is
important in mitigating the vulnerability that comes with the status of orphan-hood.
• The number of children who are orphaned is quite high and these children are increasingly suffering from all forms of
exploitation and abuse.
• The proposed draft constitution of Kenya published on the 6 th May 2010 makes specific mention of the rights of interalia
children and the youth.
• The A.G acknowledged that there is still difficulty at the community level on the procedures to follow to access dues
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
8
from the estate of deceased relatives and especially for children or minors.
• The administrator general has in the last and current financial years conducted several programmes to sensitize OVC’s
in liaison with the provincial administration through baraza’s touching on the role of the public trustee, accessibility of
benefits and the rights of OVC’s.
• The public trustee has fashioned a sample will that may be used by those opting to die testate.
• The A.G. is committed himself to setting up a small team of the relevant government departments to discuss these
challenges.
In conclusion, Ms. Njuya sought to clarify certain concerns raised by the different speakers.
• The jurisdiction of the office of the public trustee is determined by value and not by the size of land.
• The public trustee has the power to prepare a summary certificate to administer an estate not exceeding Kshs 500,000
and in such a case court procedures are all sidestepped.
• The office of the administrator general can only recognize a guardian who has been bonafide appointed by court.
Otherwise they can only pay emergency bills such as school fees and hospital bills directly to the invoicing institutions
where the guardian is not bona fide court appointed.
• Monies for beneficiaries are properly invested by the public trustee in treasury bills and reputable banks and profits or
gains realized there from are spread out to the estates that they administer.
At the end of Ms Njuya’s presentation, Ms. Anne Gathumbi emphasized the need to forge partnerships as
recommended by both the Hon. the A.G. and his representative to educate the public and more so to come up
with specific legislation on OVCs
Session II ended at 1155hrs
The final session began immediately thereafter with Commissioner Anne Ngugi of the Kenya National
Commission on Human rights as chair. This session mainly sought to crystallize all the various points
of action put forth by the various actors during their presentations. The following recommendations
were put forth for action.
i. There is need to share some of these experiences with the Law Reform Commission as they are the
ones who practically go round
collecting recommendations that
then lay the basis for legislation.
ii.
iii.
There is need to organise a major
national registration campaign for
both identification cards and birth
certificates with the involvement of
all stakeholders.
Form a task force to identify specific
OVC oriented amendments to
the law even as we continue with
public awareness campaigns on
Josephine Mbula Oyuga and her grandson listen carefuly to Hon. Millie
Odhiambos speech.

<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
registration. KELIN was mandated to organize a small meeting within two weeks from 18 th June 2010
to brainstorm on how the taskforce in would be constituted.
iv. Enhance information sharing by making use of the internet, and publications in order to create
awareness.
v. There is need to obtain legal aid for OVCs to assist in inheritance procedures and avoid the huge
legal costs. This ought to be done in a way that does not cause conflict with extended family but at
the same time ensure that OVCs access their rightful property. The 600 or so situations at Nyumbani
children’s home could be used as a pilot project for the legal aid.
vi. In the next meeting, invite the family division of the High Court for a better understanding of how
they work. More strategic partners should also be invited to give recommendations a more practical
touch.
vii. UNICEF will be the core partner in this campaign especially the registration campaign.
viii. Policies and laws need to be changed or amended to accommodate the special circumstances of OVCs.
ix. A clear user-friendly legal process needs to be put in place and more public awareness of the rights
of these children to their property inheritance needs to be created so that the community can also
provide custodianship and help prevent ‘land grabbing’
Session III ended at 1240hrs whereupon Allan Maleche (KELIN) made the closing remarks. He thanked everyone for making
time to attend especially those who had travelled from up-country to come and share with their testimonies, government
officials, UNAIDS, members of the media and all other institutions. The meeting was then closed at 1300hrs with a word of
prayer from Polycarp.
Martin of Nyumbani Children’s Home narraties his experince on the
difficulty of getting a birth ceritificate
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
2.0 SUMMARY OF
WORKSHOP SESSIONS
Mrs Mumma Of Kelin, Sr Mary Owens of Nyumbani Children’s Home, Mr
Girmay of Unaids and his daughter Ms. Ararat Girmay share a conversation.
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
2.1 SESSION I: EXPERIENCES IN THE COMMUNITY
Co-chairs: Allan Maleche (KELIN) & Ruth Laibon Masha (AAIK)
The aim of this session was two-fold. First, it was to give participants a background of the breakfast meeting and
secondly to highlight its key objectives. Generally, participants were appraised on the core issues the meeting
sought to address, personal testimonies from care-givers and OVCs were shared and members of civil society were
invited to give their perspective on the issues as well. This then set the stage for a more practical and informed
discussion with duty bearers in the next session. The presenters in this session included Ms. Catherine Mumma,
Ms Hellen Jasiang’a, Ms Ruth Masha, Ms Lilian Njeru and Sr. Mary Owens. (Copies of the presentations made
during these sessions have already been submitted to AAK and will be attached to a hardcopy of this report)
2.2 SESSION II: KNOWING GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Chair: Anne Gathumbi the Programmes Manager at Open Society Imitative East Africa
and Open Society Institute Law and Health Initiative
The aim of this session was to hear the government positions on matters relating to registration of
births, acquisition of identification documents and access to property by OVC. In turn, the objectives
of these were two fold i.e. to ascertain as much as possible whether the procedures are friendly to
children and to come up with ideas on what can be done to improve the currently obtaining position.
The presentations in this session were made by Ms Jane Kariuki, The Hon. Millie Odhiambo (M.P.),
Ms. Mary Njuya (on behalf of the Hon. the A.G). (Copies of the presentations made during these
sessions shall form part of the CD package)
2.3 SESSION III: PLENARY DISCUSSIONS ON WAY FORWARD.
Chair: Commissioner Anne Ngugi, commissioner at the Kenya National Commission on
Human Rights
This session mainly sought to crystallize all the various points of action put forth by the various actors.
The chair emphasized that OVC issues touch on everybody and so it is important that all that has
been heard from stakeholders be crystallized.
Basically all participants were requested to
contribute to the recommendations from the
issues they had gathered from the discussions.
Most of the recommendations were to be acted
upon within timelines that were set at the
meeting. Equally important were commitments
made by the various participants who were to be
followed up within strict timelines.
Mrs Catherine Mumma, Makana Jonai and Josephine Mbula Oyuga
narrate the challenges faces by josephine as a grandmother carer.
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
3.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
Ms. Ludfine Opudo of Undp listens keenly to the troceedings of the
breakfast meeting.
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
Below is an outline of the recommendations that were made during the meeting.
1. There is need for advocacy with communities in order for people to appreciate the special needs of orphans and
vulnerable children and issues relating to inheritance of property.
2. The office of the A.G needs to take the services of the Administrator general closer to the community.
3. There should be more collaborative efforts by the office of the President, Provincial administration, Ministry of
Immigration and the children’s department to design mechanisms of putting in place affirmative action measures to fast
track access to the civil and justice services discussed at this meeting with a view to facilitating orphaned children’s right
to access family property.
4. A task force should be constituted with a view to coming up with specific legislation aimed to address issues of OVCs in
society. The state law office is prepared in conjunction with the law reform commission to come up with the appropriate
legislation.
5. Come up with smaller representative groups that ensure that recommendations coming out of such as these are actionoriented
and/or practical because we are dealing with real people who need real/practical solutions to problems.
6. The needs of the OVCs must be seen beyond the provisions of cash transfers.
7. Policies and laws need to be changed or amended to accommodate the special circumstances of OVCs.
Mary Njua of the State Law Office delivers the keynote address on
behalf of the Attornery General Of Kenya.
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
4.0 NEXT STEPS
Mr. Makana Jonai, sub-chief Elugulu shares his exeprience working in the
community.
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
On the basis of the recommendations above, below are the next steps that were agreed upon by all stakeholders present:
1. Ms. Njuya to assist some of the children who had earlier narrated their problems to follow up on their funds from the
office of the Administrator General.
2. Ms, Jane Kariuki to follow up on the identified cases at the workshop and those at Nyumbani Children’s home relating
to obtaining of birth certificates and national identification cards.
3. KELIN to coordinate and oversee that the current cases and pending cases that were presented at the workshop have
been followed up by the respective government departments
4. KELIN to host a technical meeting within two weeks of the date of the breakfast meeting to discuss recommendations
with a view to writing a comprehensive note to the Attorney General on the way forward.
5. Form a task force to identify specific OVC oriented amendments to the law. KELIN was mandated to organize a small
meeting within two weeks from 18 th June 2010 to brainstorm on how the taskforce would be constituted.
6. Follow up meeting to be held on the between technical committee and the Attorney General on the way forward.
METHODOLOGY
The meeting was conducted through participatory and experiential learning processes including structured power point
presentations, motion audio-visual presentations and case studies. KELIN also undertook to forward the outcome of the
meeting including all recommendations on the way forward, presentations, workshop report and testimonies in the form of
DVD’s.
Valary Kihima narrates her experience on the challenges of accessing the Public
Trustees Office.
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
APPENDIX I: TIMETABLE
Time Session Chair/Presenter Session Objective
7:00 am to 7:30 am Registration and Breakfast
SESSION I: Experiences in the Community
Ambrose Rachier: Chairman, HIV Tribunal
To hear experiences of orphans, their
carers and organizations working in
community with OVC
7:30 am to 7:40 am Welcome Remarks and Objective of Meeting Allan Maleche (KELIN)
7:40 am to 7:50 am General Overview of the Issues Affecting Orphans and Vulnerable
Children in the Context of HIV
Ms. Catherine Muyeka Mumma (KELIN)
7:50 am to 8.35 am Personal Testimonies
• Grandmother carer
• Personal Testimony Youth (Identification)
• Personal Testimony Orphan (Access to property)
• 15 minute video
8.35 am – 9.15 am Experiences on working with OVC
• Nyumbani Children’s Home/Children of God
Relief Institute
Allan Maleche: KELIN Programme Coordinator
Joy Obuya: KELIN Communication Officer
Reverend Sr. Mary Owens (IBVM) Executive
Director: Nyumbani
•
•
•
Children’s Legal Action Network (CLAN)
The Children’s Foundation (CRADLE)
Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya (WOFAK)
CLAN Representative
Lillian Njeru: Legal Aid Officer
Ms. Dorothy Onyango: Executive Director, WOFAK
9:15 am to 9:25 am “The Link Between Human Rights Violations and Hiv - The
Context of Ovc”
Ms. Jean Kamau: County Director, Action Aid
International Kenya
SESSION II: Knowing government policies and procedures
Chair: Hon. Millie Odhiambo: MP and
Chairperson on Kenya Parliamentary Caucus on
Children
To hear the government positions on
matters relating to registration of births,
acquisition of Identification documents and
access to property by OVC:
1. Are the procedures friendly to
children
2. What can be done to improve the
position
9:25 am to 10:05
am
•
“Structures and Procedures Relating To Registration Of Birth For and
Acquisition of Identification Documents for Orphans and Vulnerable
Children (OVC)”
Mr. James O. Opundo: Ministry of State for
Immigration and Registration of Persons
•
“Ongoing Legal Reforms on Matters Affecting The Rights Of Orphaned
And Vulnerable Children To Registration, Identity An Access
To Family Property Birth Registration And Access To Family Property
For OVC”
Commissioner Nancy Baraza: Vice Chairperson,
Law Reform Commission of Kenya
•
“Towards a comprehensive approach on the protection of children’s
rights- the need for children to access all their civil, economic , social
and cultural rights- difficulties in acquiring birth registration and access
to family property for OVC”
Prof. Jacqueline Oduol: Secretary for Children’s
Affairs, Ministry of Gender and Children Affairs
10.05 am - 10.10
am
Health Break: Reading the Stories of Orphans - Ms. Ruth Masha, Action Aid International Kenya
10:05 am - 10:30
am
Keynote Address:
“The Structure and Procedures on accessing funds with the
Public Trustee: -How- for orphaned and vulnerable children “
Hon. S. Amos Wako, E.G.H., E.B.S., SC, MP, Attorney
General of the Republic of Kenya
Tea Break
SESSION III: PLENARY DISCUSSION ON WAY FORWARD
Chair: Commissioner Winnie Lichuma: Kenya National
Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR)
Discussion of a few points of actions by the
various actors.
10:30 am to 11:30
am
•
•
Way Forward
Strategic Discussion of implementation of way forward and plan
of action by various Stakeholders
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
APPENDIX II: LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
Name Organization Address Telephone Email Address
Esther Putt Caretime services 07841500703 wairimuputt@gmail.com
Lillian Njeru The CRADLE 10101-00100 Nairobi 0733799227 moliriek@yahoo.co.uk
Caroline. N. Wambui Action Aid International, Kenya 48824 Nairobi 0724969260 naomi.wambui@actionaid.org
Sr. Mary Owens COGRI Nyumbani 24970-0502 NBI 0734608372 mary@nyumbani.org
Protus Lumiti Nyumbani “ 0722705556 protus@nyumbani.org
Mr. Girmay Haile UNAIDS UN complex Gigiri 0725843594 haileg@unaids.org
Ararat Girmay Haile Student N/A N/A girmaa@spu.edu
Valarie Kihima Student 62157 NBI 0725020922 Valki07@yahoo.com
Jane Mcochoudho WOFAK 35168 NBI 0723299566 mcochuodho2005@yahoo.com
Melba Katsivo Rachier & Amollo 55645-00200 NBI 0729320189 melbakatsivo@gmail.com
Peggy Nyambura The CRADLE N/A 0722913064 paigemwa@yahoo.com
Francis Kioko KBC 30456 GPO 0721860329 kiokofrancis@yahoo.co.uk
Jane Kariuki Civil Registration 49179 NBI 0722639328 wairimukar@yahoo.co.uk
O. William Feature N/A 0724324040
Jackson Awele Rapportuer 22701-00100 NBI 0723134420 awelej07@gmail.com
Nelson Otwuoma NEPHAK 75654 NBI 0725921768 otuomatom@yahoo.com
Rebbeca Tidbury NEPHAK 0728916306 rebecatidbury@hotmail.com
Irene Ogamba State law office 49672 NBI 0722400585 ireneogamba@yahoo.com
Esther Gathiri UNAIDS UN complex block 0722435898 gathirikimotho@unaids.org
Ruth Masha Action Aid N/A 0722200790 Ruth.Masha@actionaid.org
Mary Njuya
State law office
Ann Gathumbi OSEA 7870-00100 0720426815 agathumbi@osiea.org
Maureen Murenga Lean on me 10315-00100 0724206845 leanonmek@gmail.com
Hellen Jasianga WOFAK N/A 0720928620 helenjasianga@yahoo.com
Ludfine Anyango UNDP N/A 7624724 ludfine.anyango@undp.org
Grace Muthoni Maxfactor N/A 0729774939 stevekabu@yahoo.com
Joy Wanja Nation 49010-00100 0721466267 jwanja@ke.nationmedia.com
Elizabeth Atieno Maxfactor N/A 0724459180 elizatieno@yahoo.com
Christine Anyango N/A N/A 0714859340 berylchristine86@yahoo.com
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<strong>Report</strong> on OVC Consultative Breakfast Meeting
Grace Anyango
The CRADLE
Njoki Chege Standard N/A 0721724700 evalyn.njoki@gmail.com
Anne. M. KNHCR N/A 0720737816 anne.m.ngugi@knchr.org
Jacky Kosgey Kass media N/A 0725161907 jackykipp@yahoo.com
Pastor Jared Otieno Joy Valley Children’s Home 25451-00100 NBI 0711269179 joyvaley2005@yahoo.com
Benjamin Onyango
Veronica
Shem
Abdul Akif
KBC
KBC
Standard Group
Polycarp Odoyo KELIN N/A 0721484671 pollicap@kelinkenya.org
Hon. Millie Odhiambo
Nominated MP
Catherine Mumma KELIN 112-00202 020-3861596 cathymumma@yahoo.com
Allan Maleche KELIN 112-00202 020-3861596 amaleche@kelinkenya.org
Veronica Omunga KELIN “ “ vomunga@kelinkenya.org
Joan Mukoya KELIN “ “ joanmukoya08@yahoo.com
Sharon Akinyi KELIN “ “ akinyisharon@yahoo.com
Makana Jonai
Josephine Mbula Oyuga
Chief Lugulu Location
Grandmother carer
Ms Joan Mukoya and Ms Sharon Akinyi, KELIN interns, manning the
registration desk.
19